Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Inc

TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES DELIVERED TO MA RESIDENTS (SEE PART III, LINE 1)

MASSHEALTH PATIENT EXPERIENCE SURVEY:UNDER THIS STATE CONTRACT MHQP MEASURES THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE FOR PRIMARY CARE, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, AND LONG- TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR MEMBERS ENROLLED IN MASSHEALTH'S ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS. THE SURVEYS MHQP DEVELOPED FOR MASSHEALTH ARE THE FIRST TO BE USED TO CARRY OUT STATEWIDE MEASUREMENT OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE FOR A MEDICAID POPULATION.

STATEWIDE SURVEY OF PATIENTS' EXPERIENCES WITH PRIMARY CARE:MHQP ANNUALLY FIELDS THIS SURVEY MEASURING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE OF PRIMARY CARE FOR COMMERCIALLY INSURED PATIENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND PUBLICLY REPORTS THE RESULTS ON MHQP'S WEBSITE, HTTP://WWW.HEALTHCARECOMPASSMA.ORG/. THIS SURVEY IS USED BY MASSACHUSETTS' HEALTH PLANS FOR RISK-BASED CONTRACTING AND IS ALSO USED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT. AS A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATIVE MHQP REVISES AND UPDATES THIS SURVEY OVER TIME IN CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS. THIS SURVEY CREATES A LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY IN PRIMARY CARE WHICH HAS MOTIVATED PROVIDERS TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THEIR SERVICE TO PATIENTS.

DATA GATHERING, AGGREGATION, AND LICENSING:MHQP'S DATA GATHERING, AGGREGATION, AND LICENSING ACTIVITIES PROVIDE VALUE TO HEALTH PLANS AND PROVIDERS, STATE REGULATORY ENTITIES, AND ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS, AS WELL AS FOSTERING DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY MEASURES IN MASSACHUSETTS. THIS WORK ALSO INCLUDES PUBLIC REPORTING OF MEASURES TO HELP ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTHCARE. MHQP GATHERS AND AGGREGATES CLINICAL QUALITY DATA (CQ-HEDIS SCORES) ACROSS 6 MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH PLANS FOR THE CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS, AND PUBLICLY REPORTS THIS DATA AT THE PRACTICE SITE LEVEL. MHQP ALSO ANNUALLY UPDATES ITS MASSACHUSETTS PROVIDER DIRECTORY (MPD). THE MPD CAPTURES THE STRUCTURE OF AMBULATORY CARE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND PROVIDES A LOCATION-BASED SNAPSHOT OF MASSACHUSETTS PROVIDERS. IT IS THE ONLY VALID DATA SOURCE AVAILABLE THAT MAPS PRIMARY CARE AND SPECIALTY PROVIDERS STATEWIDE TO THE PRACTICE SITE, MEDICAL GROUP AND NETWORK IN WHICH THEY PROVIDE CARE.

CLINICAL GUIDELINES, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, AND URGENT CARE PROJECT:MHQP AND OUR EXPERT COLLABORATORS, REVISE THREE SETS OF EVIDENCE-BASED CLINICAL CARE GUIDELINES ANNUALLY FOR USE BY PAYERS AND PROVIDERS, IMPROVING EFFICIENCY BY CENTRALIZING THIS COMMON NEED. MHQP'S GUIDELINES ADDRESS ADULT AND PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE, AS WELL AS PERINATAL CARE. MHQP ALSO MAINTAINS AND UPDATES A SET OF RESOURCES FOR EMPOWERED PATIENTS, AIMED AT HELPING PATIENTS EFFECTIVELY NAVIGATE OUR COMPLEX HEALTHCARE SYSTEM AND ADVOCATE FOR THE CARE THEY NEED. IN 2021, MHQP CONTINUED TO BRING A STRONG HEALTH EQUITY FOCUS TO THIS WORK, ADDING NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE MATERIALS AS WELL AS VISUALLY ORIENTED MATERIALS TO HELP ENSURE THAT THE RESOURCES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PATIENTS. MHQP ALSO UNDERTOOK TWO SIGNIFICANT QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS, ONE AS A SUBCONTRACTOR TO THE HARVARD PILGRIM HEALTH CARE INSTITUTE (HPHCI), AND ONE FOR UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE. MHQP CONDUCTED THE QUALITATIVE PORTION OF A MIXED METHODS STUDY AIMED AT BETTER UNDERSTANDING INEQUITIES IN TELEHEALTH USAGE AND ACCESS SINCE THE ONSET OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, INTERVIEWING PATIENTS, PROVIDERS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO BRING DEEPER CONTEXT TO QUANTITATIVE DATA. FOR UMASS MEMORIAL, MHQP CARRIED OUT A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL INVESTIGATION INTO BARRIERS DRIVING RACIAL AND ETHNIC INEQUITIES IN RATES OF WELL CHILD VISITS. MHQP'S WORK ENABLED UMASS MEMORIAL TO DEVELOP TARGETED INTERVENTIONS TO MEET THEIR STRETCH QUALITY GOALS. MHQP ALSO CARRIED OUT A CONTRACT FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION. THIS WORK INVOLVED UPDATING A CENSUS OF THE URGENT CARE CENTERS AND RETAIL CLINICS OPERATING IN MASSACHUSETTS AND COLLECTING A SET OF DATA POINTS ABOUT THESE CENTERS AND CLINICS, THIS WORK LEVERAGED MHQP'S STRONG RELATIONSHIPS IN MASSACHUSETTS HEALTHCARE, AND DRAMATICALLY INCREASED THE PUBLIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE REGARDING THESE FACILITIES.